Association of isopropanol exposure with chromosome damage of workers in electronic equipment manufacturing industry

  Objective  To investigate the association of isopropanol exposure with chromosome damage levels of workers in electronic equipment manufacturing industry.

  Methods  A total of 290 workers who had been or would be exposed to isopropanol were selected as the subjects during January 2018 to December 2018. The concentration of isopropanol at workplaces were determined by gas chromatography and the lymphocytes micronucleus(MN) frequencies and indicators of chromosome damage of workers were measured by cytokinesis-block micronucleus method(CBMN assay). SPSS16.0 was used for statistical analysis.

  Results  The workers' exposure level(median, 25th and 75th percentile) of isopropanol at workplaces was 63.01(42.02, 83.33)mg/m³. The MN frequencies and MN-containing cells rate of exposed workers was significantly higher than that in the non-exposed group respectively, while there was no statistical difference of lymphocyte transformation rate between the two groups(P > 0.05). Poisson regression analysis showed that: (1) the MN frequencies and MN-containing cells rate increased with the increase of age; (2) compared with the non-exposed group, the MN frequencies of the exposed group increased by 558%(P < 0.001) and the MN-containing cells rate increased by 487%(P < 0.001);(3) the MN frequencies increased by 0.016‰(P < 0.05) and the MN-containing cells rate increased by 0.019‰(P < 0.05), with the increase of isopropanol mass concentration by 1 mg/m³; (4) the MN frequencies increased by 0.047‰(P < 0.05) and the MN-containing cells rate increased by 0.039‰(P < 0.05), with the increase of work time by 1 year.

  Conclusions  Among workers in electronic equipment manufacturing industry, the isopropanol exposure was associated with increased chromosome damage level.